A fun night out at Spotlight!!

I had an enjoyable night out at Spotlight. our local one here had a quilting night. We got to use some flash machines, make these little walhangings, got a bag of goodies and lots of chat to like minded people.

It was so funny because i am embracing massive frugily again as a way to get more positive aout the future in the country. And I only spent $5.00 in total. On this metre of country type material. It was on clearance and so were two other coordinating fabrics (used in the wallhangings), I felt OK spending $5.00 but not spending 10.00 or 20.00 dollars. As I was looking for this material i came across a whole lot of remnants cut up on the counter and I cheekily asked the manager if i could have them cheaply..there were a lot...he gave them to me!!!! I felt very lucky.

As we were using the machines i was amazed that that the thread threaded itself by pushing a lever. Then my friend said "Oh yours does that"!! How long have I had this machine?! I really must learn how to read manuals (Also where I put said Manual!)

This is the pile of remnants...doest look much in this photo but there is heaps!

My wallhanging/cushion cover/table top..

Whats up with all these photos!! Sometime computers can go mad

Another one for the cupboard...

My crazy mom quilts block a day along is finished..Yah!! Of course its not quilted...

So its added to the pile from this years quilt tops. You know when I didnt see these tops but remmebered their sad existence in the darks of the cupboard, they seemed so much more. But here the pile looks doable somehow...

But not right now. No Now Im doing my sheep wallhanging quilt you might remember from a while a back when i bought an (expensive) Fons and porter magazine. Since then Ive lost the total and abxolute love for this hanging but Ill plug away anyway. Its very rustic and very hangable in a country abode...

Lots of great quilting to you,

Love Cherry

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So today is The raggedy annes birthday so i am posting mine:

Spring and other things

Yes i know Ive been a bad blogger but life has a way of taking up all spare time lately. What i have been doing is putting up my Halloween quilt in lieu of our annual halloween/ guy fawkes party in early november. I love this quilt...thanks Homespun magazine. ive also been planting peas for Christmas dinner and onions and piked my first ever harvest of spinach (which i boiled up with some silver beet and froze) Great to have that first little bit of success in the spring garden. Oh and my lemon tree that I bought two years ago has sprung its first ever lemon!!!! all about the simple things.

ive b een getting quite down on the whole living on the land thing and last night I happened upon a blog i dont read anywhere near as

often as i should. Its here and the post is at the end of August from the Frugal trenches writer. This lady shares my dream and like us that dream is financially not on the cards right now. BUT she is endeavouring to live the country life as much as she can while living in the city. Well it was an inspiring bit of writing and really cheered me up. I hope youll stop by and read her blog.
As for me Im going to be tearing up part of our back garden and planting a vege patch..which should make a change from finding vege plants all over the garden. I stopped buying flowes a while ago and now just buy plantes that will produce food, however room is at a premium. I think this will look good when we do sell as most people are into backyard planting. Now how can I fit a couple of chooks in with the dog???!!!
I need to go actually as said dog has escaped and is somewhere on the 2o acre park that backs on to our garden. Nor sure how he did this I think he must have made a dash through out open bedrooom door and then out the front way....little devil...
Happiness and light wherever you are. Oh the photo of the quilt is the crazy mom quilt along I want to finish....
love Cherry

coughs colds and pneumonia

I havent blogged for a while and this is mainly because ive got no photos to post...it feels odd not to post anything with a pic attached!
We had high drama here last week. First we all got the flu BAD then at 3.00 in the morning (everything around here happens at three oclock in the morning!) Georgia couldnt breathe properly and was admitted to the hospital and ended up staying with pneumonia!!! It really was a hellish week. We were all so sick and I was such a hopeless mother to have in hospital lying beside my sick daughter on a trundle bed feeling like death itself!! ut now I have finally recupperated, and the girls are all back at School and I even felt fit enough to go to pilates today and take part in jump jam at School.. (dancing to Bollywood music would you believe)

Spring feels so close and I planted snow peas yesterday. My spinach seedlings are up and looking healthy and I found four thrown away munted onions in the compost heap that had sprung roots and sprouts and so i dug a hole in some nice soil in the corner of the garden threw them in and now ill wait to see if anything comes of them. I love this time of year. That priomise of things to come in the garden.

On the quilting front Im quilting away on my mystery quilt and as usual through three quarters of the quilt I have had enough and want to get on with the next project...projects!!!!

Im very sore after pilates right now or maybe its the ollywood dancing...anyway Im off to get into a hot shower.

Happy sewing or quilting or gardening wherever you are
Love Cherry

Star struck mystery quilt top finished

So finally after (six months?) or so of mystery locks arriving in the e mail this was the last block. Four angel appliques.

ANd this was the finished top. It is unironed and lying on the floor, not tastefully drapped ovevr something rustic as I would like to do, but seriously I dout the niceness of my interpretation of the quilt. Next time i would more attention to the materials listed. The sides are wonky too so ovioulsy I would have to pay more attention to my piecing ! However the photo looks better than the real thing now that i look at it (Isnt it mean to be the other way around?) Anyway I will uy some wadding and I have some Christmas ish red fabric with stars for the back and as it isnt so ig to take around and quilt this will be a good project to take mobile with me on my many tooings and froings of the children and there activities. Infact tonight I took it to swimming to finish off handsewing the border. It was a pain and the lady next to me was knitting and it looked far easier to handle than my quilt with pins and scissors and needle and thread all over the place. Between us we looked like some kind of ladies craft circle, not Mums waiting for their childrens swimming lessons. ut honestly i feel lost without something crafty to do while waiting around.

I so look forward to others star struck quilts. let me know when youve finished yours!

happy sewing

Cherry

Growing older

After many hard years of sickness and every increasing fraility my Mother has gone into a rest home. Mum is 78 but after living an extremly hard and busy life filled with lots of traumatic and good events suddenly old age hit her like a ton of bricks and she seemed to age overnight. Ive gotten used in the last three years of my Mum growing smaller weaker, less able and her mind growing frail too. The yesterday we started the cleanout of her home as it goes up for sale. There were a few of us and it hit me hard how the lifetime of memories are suddenly there laid out in front of you. trinkets, the photos some long forgotten, the clothing and ornaments, my own long lost things some huge in value some huge in sentimental value. I found Mums wedding dress thrown in a black sack with moth holes and musty smelling and knew that i must preserve what I could of it for the future generations. I was pondering how amazing it would be to find my grandmothers dress that during the great depression was of blue velvet and no doubt cut up for other things when used. Then suddenly there it was. the bodice and a lock of hair kept by mum all these years and now handed on to Mums youngest sister. I thought how wonderful it would be 100 years from now for my great greats to see this wedding dress from the 50s. And so today it lows in the wind and I am reminded just how beautiful it is. mum designed it herself on the idea of a flower and its petals. There is a large chunk of tulle missing from the front and now I must find a way to preserve it ensuring that no further damage is done. Any ideas. When i look at this dress and see the wedding photos dug up yesterday I am reminded how young and vital Mum and Dad were then, newly married their children not yet born. All the highs and lows out before them. And now Dad is dead and Mum is so very frail. Life after all I thought is about the living of and the memories captured. it was a very poignant day.

This leather suitcase is from the dusty bottom of my fathers closet and I grabbed it, polished it up and filled it with my rag and porcelain dolls and a lap quilt. Im not sure how old it is but I think it came from my grandfather. i love it. i found other precious things too. A silver cigarette paper holder from 1950 with my dads name and date engraved. (I hated my Dad smoking. He gave up cold turkey after a massive heart attack when he was fifty. never again after a lifetime did he touch another cigarette from them on. No nicorette or helplines then.he had massive will power!!)

Gardening:

Today I swilled some more of my horse manure soup on my strawberries and my spinach. The weather is so springlike here. it is lovely to be out in the garden planing the growing season now. The girls think the fact that i collected horse poo as they rode then bagged it up took it home and made a soup from it with water in a bucket is just too awful!! They might not be eating eating of our own strawberries this year!

Frugal living:

I have been so slack and my bank account shows this. Really high power bills. I know it is winter but still. The last two days have seen me hanging things on the clothes line and them actually drying y days end. now thats a lovely feeling to have. Good on the power bill the clothes and my soul!! i am beginning to cook more too. Just too many takeouts and buying processed food of late...watch this space!

Crafting:

The last installment of the mystery block of the month from Susan claire arrived yesterday. I am now sewing the rows together, but I didnt take too much notice of the faric and so my look is a tad more scrappy than the finished look on line. i will post pictures when finished. Am I happy with it. I dunno. I am driving it through the sewing machine at top speed to see what it looks like all finished and with the borders on it. Susan Claires looks great though!

I am off to put some nan read on..told you i was going to be more frugal. Unfortunately its frugal by necessity this weekend.....

happy simple living folks

Love Cherry